Everybody Knows [Niam]

"The Scaredy Cat and Wannabe Cupid...No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"

Everybody Knows

Chapter 17

“The Scaredy Cat and Wannabe Cupid…No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”

“Can someone please explain why I’m here?” I whined as I tried my best to keep balance with all the shopping bags and boxes in my possession. I had about three heavy bags hanging off each of my arms. In them were various sweaters, blouses, and jeans. In front of me I held four boxes that contained shoes and hats. They were all stacked on one another and were threatening to block the view in front of me.

I was currently in a gigantic mall located in north Akujamora with Reira and Liam. I woke up this morning to Liam asking me if I wanted to tag along somewhere. At first I said no because I wanted to get some more sleep, I mean, it was a weekend for heaven’s sake. But of course Liam was persistent and before I could fully realize it he had convinced me to get up and get dressed. A little later on I discovered we were going to the mall to meet up with Reira and go shopping with her.

Now, I didn’t have a problem with that, I was actually kind of excited by the idea. Reira was an awesome person. Over the past week I had put in more effort into getting to know her and what I learned was nothing but positive. She was funny, confident, and quite smart. She was the type of person to get things done and not complain about doing them. Plus, she was brutally honest and spoke her mind, which is a good trait in a person. The only thing that bothered me about her was the fact she was Liam’s girlfriend, but I decided to get over that. There’s nothing I can do it and even if I could, I shouldn’t. Who am I to interfere with someone else’s relationship just so I can come out ahead? With that in mind I decided to just ignore my feelings for Liam and hope that they would just fade away.

So, yeah, I was okay with the whole idea of spending the day with Reira and Liam. What I was not okay with was me carrying all of Reira’s bags along with Liam. I could understand why he was holding them, he was getting some action from her.  What I couldn’t figure out was why the hell I was holding the ones I had! This was too much work for someone I just started liking!

“Seriously, did you think I would be okay with this?!” I harshly whispered Liam’s ear as we walked through the cluttered mall. He was having just as much of a hard time walking with all of his crap as I did, if not harder.

“It wasn’t his idea in the first place.” Reira stated. She was walking beside Liam carrying only one miniscule bag with an overpriced bracelet she purchased in it. “It was mine.”

I scrunched my face up. “Okay, then what makes you think I’m okay with this? I don’t remember me ever telling you I wanted to be you pack mule.”

“I never planned on you being one. I only invited you because I know how bored Liam can get when he comes shopping with me. He tells me so all the time. I thought it would be nice if he had someone to keep him company while I’m off trying on things, so I suggested you should come too.”

“Yeah… about that…” Liam started to talk with a look of shame on his face. “I might have been telling a little white lie…”

Both Reira and I stopped walking causing Liam to stop too.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Reira asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I may have been using the whole being bored thing as an excuse to not come shopping with you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because I...” Liam paused for a second and I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. “Well, you see, I thought if you thought I was bored when we went shopping together you would stop inviting me to come along…and therefor I wouldn’t have to carry the mountain-load of crap you usually buy.”